Lake County watch.

Democrats Hound Kirk's Honeymoon

It's only two months since Republican Rep. Mark Kirk of Wilmette was sworn in to represent the 10th District in Congress.

But the Democratic campaign to unseat him is already under way.

Mark Nevins, press secretary for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in Washington, said this week that Kirk's every move in Congress is being watched in an attempt to load up on ammunition for the 2002 election.

"Mark Kirk is in a tough, competitive district, and we're going to be keeping a close eye on his votes to make sure that what he promised in the campaign he follows through on," Nevins said.

The national Democrats also are working to find a candidate they believe could be successful against Kirk, who defeated 12 people on the way to winning last year's race to succeed 20-year GOP Rep. John Porter, who retired.

Lone conservative wolf: State Rep. Timothy Osmond (R-Antioch) was the only member of Lake County's delegation in the Illinois House to vote against the gay rights bill approved by the House this week.

Reps. Mark Beaubien (R-Barrington Hills), Sidney Mathias (R-Buffalo Grove) and Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest) were among many sponsors of the bill, which would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Osmond said he voted no to appease constituents on the east side of his 62nd House District in Zion, Beach Park and Winthrop Harbor.

"Members of the Baptist Church and the Christian Church have all expressed concern about an infringement of their feelings about what's right and wrong moral behavior," he said.

It's probably a good idea for Osmond to cater to those constituents. There's talk in Springfield about creating a new legislative district on the west side of Lake County that would merge with eastern McHenry County because of new census figures.

If that happens, look for former state Rep. Robert Churchill of Lake Villa, whom Osmond replaced in the House, to run for the new seat.

Churchill, a 16-year state lawmaker who left the General Assembly to make an unsuccessful run for secretary of state in 1998, was recently hired by House Minority Leader Lee Daniels (R-Elmhurst) to help the GOP redesign the state's legislative districts.

Voters beware: The county's new optical-scan voting system gets its first major test in Tuesday's elections.

It passed with flying colors in the February primary, but only a fraction of Lake County's more than 350,000 registered voters were eligible to use it.

Clerk Willard Helander said that when people vote the new way, they should be aware that the ballot can have races on both sides of the form.

"Voters should be careful to look on both sides of their ballot," she said.

Special day, special lady: Sen. Adeline Geo-Karis (R-Zion), who never forgets a birthday, is celebrating her own this week.